


The Jersey Devil's Advocate

by Angor_Rot, FolkPunkDruid



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-06-29 15:07:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15731910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angor_Rot/pseuds/Angor_Rot, https://archiveofourown.org/users/FolkPunkDruid/pseuds/FolkPunkDruid
Summary: It had been almost a year since the trolls moved into New Trollmarket, and everything was peaceful. Jim's life had turned into herding young whelps and chasing down the occasional rouge gnome. He loved his life, of course, but now there wasn't much to it. One day when he was patrolling around the entrance to New Trollmarket, he found someone in need. That was the first sighting of The Jersey Devil. Now that he's taken up this mantle, Jim soon learns that being a hero isn't all its cracked up to be. With the help of a new friend, he works to make the streets of Jersey City a better place.





	1. Chapter 1

Last night was something different for Jim, instead of saving the random troll close to being discovered, he saved a human life. It all happened so fast, one minute he was patrolling the streets near New Trollmarket and the next he was throwing his daggers and knocking a gun out of a masked man’s hand.

Jim made sure his helmet was on before throwing the daggers, not wanting the human to see what he was. It was new to him, calling others 'human' and not considering himself one anymore. The human stood there staring as Jim pinned the mugger down, pulling off his mask to see his face and whispering into his ear. “I'll let you go, but if I find you doing this again, you better believe I'm hauling you to the police station.” He barely managed to get away into the sewers before the human he saved pulled out her phone.

Jim got no sleep that day, all he could think about was the next time he could help someone. Jersey city was overrun with crime, and there was so much he could do. He missed playing the hero, and it WAS his duty to protect both troll and human. He knew he could only tell one person, so as soon as it hit 5 o'clock in Arcadia, he called Toby.

“Tobes! You have to know what happened last night!” Jim rambled on about everything, accidentally repeating things a few times.

“Wait, hold on. You're playing superhero now? Isn't that dangerous? What if somebody sees you?” Toby said over the phone, his voice sounding troubled. Jim understood why, but this wasn't going to stop him. He needed purpose again, and Jim was afraid he wasn't going to find it with the trolls ever again. He knew he had to be careful, he'd read enough superhero comic books to know what exactly to do.

The next night, Jim kept his helmet on, venturing farther from New Trollmarket than he had before. He had looked up the worst areas in Jersey city, his mother still paying his phone bill thank god, and headed towards that area. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Jim scanned the alleyways for any sign of trouble. His ears perked up at the sounds of yelling and knuckles hitting flesh, and Jim immediately leaped across the rooftops to the place he heard it coming from.

The dispute seemed to be behind a bar, and it was definitely not fair. There were three against one, and the one man wasn't even fighting back, he was just trying to protect himself from the hits. Jim jumped down from the roof he was perched on as soon as he saw what was going on, startling the guys who were kicking the one man on the ground.

“Hey why don't you pick on somebody your own size?” In reality, Jim was about 7 feet high, so that wasn't entirely accurate. He put Daylight on his back, and held out his hands. “Alright fellas, let's try to settle this peacefully. I don't wanna have to hurt you.”

The men looked at each other and laughed, one of them charging at him right after. Jim shook his head and blocked the first hit with his shield, grabbing the first man’s arm and twisting it behind his back with ease. He threw him against the wall, making sure he didn't do it too hard, knocking him out cold and faced the other two men. “Anyone else wanna try?” The two men took off running, and Jim chuckled softly to himself. He helped up the guy who was on the ground only to see his face and realize, he was just a boy. A teenager like Jim.

“Are you okay? Can you walk?”

The boy nodded and Jim sighed in relief, he knew the boy was hurt but he wasn't too sure of how he'd carry him. “Where do you live?” The kid, who was seemingly speechless, pointed the way. Jim had the other male put his arm around his shoulders and they slowly made their way to the boys house, where Jim left him on the front porch and watched him from the bushes, to make sure he got inside.

A feeling of accomplishment filled Jim's body, the warm, tingly sensation that consumed him back when he was in Arcadia. He missed it deeply, and it wasn't like his current duties as Trollhunter weren't fulfilling enough, except they weren't, although Jim would never admit it to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim meets a new friend, Aaron Waltke makes a cameo

Jim's nightmares were always the same. He was stuck in a mirror maze, one that was seemingly endless. With every corridor he passed through, he became less and less human, and more and more troll. Jim knew why he had these dreams - it wasn't exactly the hardest thing to see. 

Since Merlin turned him into a troll, these nightmares had been recurring. He'd had them for a better part of a year now, except on the day of his 17th birthday. That day his dreams were filled with good things. But not for long. As luck would have it, they returned the next day.

Jim woke up on the floor, something not quite new to him, and rolled over onto his back, an exhausted sigh emitting from his lips. He'd gotten used to the sleep deprivation a long time ago. His first thought was to go talk to Blinky.

Jim stood up, his footing unsure for a few seconds before he regained his balance. He hadn't told Blinky about the nightmares yet, even though it had been a year, because running a tribe of trolls was proving very difficult. Despite Blinky’s ability to multitask, he didn't always have time for Jim anymore, but he tried his hardest and Jim understood that. 

It didn't take long for him to get dressed, he pulled on the clothes that Claire made for him, exactly like his old favorite outfit. She was currently at NJCU, on a scholarship for her acting skills. Claire could have gotten into a better school, but insisted on staying near New Trollmarket

Entering the open space of New Trollmarket, he saw his surrogate father being crowded by several trolls, all clamouring for his attention.

“Glug stole my socks for her brew!” Bagdwella, Jim recalled, screeched. 

“Now now, let’s keep things civil,” came Blinky’s voice, sounding tired and harried as he called over the crowd.

But the crowd roared at Bagdwella’s comment, her cry met with yells of Glug’s defense and the sound of stone pummelling stone. 

Jim watched the chaos for a moment or two, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. Did Blinky need help? Finally, he decided that the older troll had the situation under control as he whacked someone on the head with his staff, scolding the citizens like unruly whelps as he solved their dispute. Blinky obviously had all four of his hands full, but it didn’t look like he needed help.

“I should probably let him know I’m going out again tonight…” Jim mumbled to himself before heading towards Blinky’s personal library. Finding a book that he knew Blinky was currently reading, Jim scribbled down a little note and left it in the book, making sure it poked out the top so the other troll would notice it.

His mind focused, Jim donned his armor and left New Trollmarket. His helmet on, of course. If his 7 and a half foot lanky body wasn’t a dead giveaway that he wasn’t quite human, his tusks, blue stony skin and horns definitely were. Luckily, after his amulet stopped registering an entire hand as his, Blinky tinkered with it until Jim once again had two gauntlets, so humans couldn’t even see his rocky hide through his armour. _‘Can’t be caught without any armor there!’_ Blinky had said. _‘A Trollhunter must have no visible weaknesses!’_

 

Jim leapt from rooftop to rooftop, powerful legs vaulting him up and lithe form allowing him to move with ease and not quite grace but something akin to it. His eyes searched the streets for any sign of trouble, any sign that things weren’t how they should be. Unfortunately it was still very early in the evening, the sun having barely gone down when Jim began his nightly patrol.

It had been a few hours and Jim had not seen nor heard anybody in need of help, besides the few drunk people he escorted home, until he heard a male voice calling out.

“Hey uh… Tall armour guy? Are you here?”  
Jim moved towards the sound of his voice, finding him shortly after. It was the boy he saved the previous night! He had a black eye, and a bruise or three blooming on his arms, but after the beating he took yesterday he looked surprisingly good. Definitely confident enough to be in the same place again, so those bullies must have left him alone! Right? 

Jim took a leap off the building he was standing on, fist down and ready to make a dramatic landing, like a superhero from a movie. Crashing into the pavement below, his knee and fist shrieked out in pain. 

“Ow! Fuck!” He yelled, before slapping a hand over his mouth. Right, there was a younger kid here. “I-I mean, heck.” He chuckled nervously.

Taking stock of his knee, he noted that his armour had taken the brunt of the blow, but his arm and knee still hurt from the impact of the landing. If he’d still been human, he’d have likely broken something.

“Hey kid, you good? What’s up?” Jim stood, trying to play it casual, but a note of concern still crept into his voice. Did he still need help?

The kid stared at him for a moment, before realising he was waiting on a response and jolted into action. “Oh! Y-yeah,” he stuttered, holding out a small shoebox with shaky hands.

“I w-wanted to give this to you. For.. For saving me.” The boy avoided looking at Jim, like he was somewhat scared of him. Not that the boy could see it all that well through his helmet, but Jim cocked an eyebrow and reached out tentatively, taking the box from him.

Inside the box was a small object bundled in napkins and a walkie talkie. Picking up the object, he unwrapped it to reveal…

“Homemade fudge! My mom and I were making it for a bake sale, but I saved a few pieces for you! As a thank-you.” The kid beamed up at Jim, before the smile dropped from his face as something occurred to him. “Oh… Now I can’t sell those, and you’re a superhero who would probably want me to sell them… Sorry…” He looked away, looking conflicted.

Crouching down to his level, Jim rested a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, kid. This is great!” He slipped the napkin under his helmet, audibly chomping down on it with gusto, much to the kid’s surprise. “You can have the fudge. I can’t really digest the stuff.”

As the kid was marvelling at his napkin-eating and the fudge he’d been given to eat, Jim removed the latter from the box and glanced up at the boy, his head tilted in confusion.

“That’s so we can communicate! I’ve got a, uh… Radio! A radio at home that I can tune into police frequencies. I wanna h-help you. If that’s okay!” The boy stumbled through his sentences and didn’t seem to sure of if his strange saviour would like the idea. However, Jim loved it, beaming widely under his helmet. He almost wished the kid could see it, just to reassure him, but Blinky would never let him hear the end of it.

“Yes! This is a huge help! I’ve been hoping someone would help me, but…” He trailed off. He could say ‘his family’, but that would imply that there were more of him, and being in the city at night was already risky enough. Couldn’t say anything that would hint at the existence of New Trollmarket, or the trolls that lived within. “... I haven’t found anyone. By the way, what’s your name?”

“M-my name? Zach Sturges. Wh-what’s yours?” Zach managed out after a minute.

“I’m Jim Lake. It’s nice to meet you Zach.” Jim nodded and held out his hand, forgetting there was only four fingers on it.

Zach immediately noticed, but not wanting to be rude, he took Jim’s hand and shook it. Being the curious, socially inept person he was though, he had to ask about it.

“What happened to your hand? Were you in an accident?” Zach asked, his voice more sure and steady than it was before.

“Oh this?” Jim panicked in his head, trying to quickly figure out what to say. After a year of no more lying, he’d grown rusty, but he could still bend the truth to get out of situations like this. “I got in an accident where I uh, worked about a year ago, and lost one of my fingers. I’m fine though!”

“Man that must really s-suck. It doesn’t really affect your uhm.. Fighting skills though! You were amazing last night! The way you blocked that guy’s punch and knocked him out in one go was incredible! And you’re so tall, what’s up with that?” Zach babbled, barely stumbling over his words in his zeal. Jim chuckled at the barriage of enthusiastic banter, standing up straight. 

“Well I only shot up in height pretty recently. Final growth spurt, I guess. I’m not sure which of my parents I got it from, though. They’re both…” He trailed off, thinking about how he and Blinky looked so alike now, even though he wasn’t his biological father. “About average height.”

“Really? How? Average height for what, a monster?” He laughed, as if the idea that half of Jim’s family, including Jim himself, were not human. The Trollhunter shifted on his feet uncomfortably, but forced out a chuckle to avoid suspicion. Maybe this kid just really liked monsters? There was no way he could be suspicious of him… Right?

“Anyway, I should probably go home so we can start crime fighting together!” Zach chirped, turning around to walk briskly back towards his house. 

“Hey! Wait up!” Jim couldn’t just let him go home alone, especially when it was - Jim checked his watch - nearly midnight!

Despite his earlier call of “Wait up!”, Jim didn’t actually need Zach to wait. His long legs took huge strides to catch up to the younger boy more easily. “I’m taking you home,” he insisted. “It’s late, and if I’m there those guys from the other night won’t try anything. Do you know who they are?”

“Oh uh… Yeah, actually.” The kid looked down, as if he were nervous to say. “They’re guys who go to my school.” Zach scratched at his arm nervously, not really wanting to talk about it but at the same time he wanted to tell his hero and new friend about it. “Th-that night was actually one of the w-worst times they’ve bullied me. But it’s okay, I’m stronger than I used to be! Their words don’t really hurt that bad anymore. I think that’s why they started beating me up though.”

Jim was shocked and completely speechless. He’d dealt with bullying and had heard of it being this bad in some places, Eli being the only person he knew that had been through it. Part of him worried for this oddly optimistic kid he’d just met. How could humans be so cruel to their own kind? But another part of him was full of rage. 

It burned white-hot, fierce and protective over this child he’d only just met. He wasn’t entirely sure if that protective, righteous fury came from his humanity or his trollish side.

“Jim, um… You don’t have to say anything, if you don’t know what to say. It’s okay.” Zach beamed widely up at him, but his eyes were somewhat weary, and Jim felt something twist and knot deep in his stomach. He stopped the younger boy mid-step and knelt down, wincing as the knee he’d injured during his foolhardy ‘superhero landing’ rested heavily against the pavement. His hand rested on Zach’s shoulder comfortingly.

“You’re… You’re right, I don’t know what to say. However, as long as the sun is down, I’ll be able to protect you.” Jim pulled the schoolboy into a short, gentle embrace. “I promise,” he whispered. He stood up, letting him go gingerly. “Want a ride on my shoulders?”

Zach beamed with excitement.

As Jim hoisted him up, he thought back to what he’d just said. _‘Really Jim? However? You’ve been hanging out with Blinky too much.’_ He chuckled to himself at the thought. Maybe he really was growing up.

“What’cha thinking of, Jim?”

The half-troll shook his head with another chuckle at the question, rustling Zach a little. “Just how much I’ve grown.”

Zach seemed like he wanted to ask more questions, but stayed quiet.

They walked in a comfortable silence - Well, Jim walked and Zach gawked at Jim’s armour - until they got to Zach’s house, Zach being the first to shatter the quiet air.

“Uh, so… I kinda snuck out to find you. I left out my window and climbed down the tree.” Zach pointed to a window on the second floor. Sure enough, an old tree sat beside the house, the branches reaching over to the window. “I’ve never done it before so I’m... not too sure how to get back in?” He asked questioningly, prompting Jim to laugh a little too hard. “Hey! It’s not that funny!”

Jim shook off the last of his laugher, calming down. “It’s-It’s not that. I used to sneak out a lot when I was your age, so I’m kind of a professional at it. All you need to do is go in the way you went out.” He pointed to the tree, and Zach let out a small, shaky groan. “What? Can you not climb up it?” Zach shook his head.

“I… Might be able to, but…Wh-what if I fall? At least while I was climbing down I didn’t have to look at the ground.” Zach mumbled, biting hard on his bottom lip.

“Don’t worry about it. Hey, how about I take you up there?” Jim smiled widely under his helmet. “Hang on!” Jim called, reaching a hand back to keep him secured as he leapt to the second story window. The other hand reached out, grabbing for a branch of the tree by the window and bracing himself against the trunk as he adjusted the kid so he was safely tucked in the curl of Jim’s body. 

Reaching over to the window, he carefully opened it, wincing as it squeaked in its frame at the motion.

“Okay, crawl in.” He grabbed Zach gently under the belly like one would a small dog and lifted him to the now-open window, waiting patiently as Zach crawled through the window. “Just call me on the radio when you find something!” Jim loudly whispered up to the kid, who nodded and closed his window.

Jim was, at least physically, on his own again. But now? Now he had someone helping him from the shadows. He was actually sort of relieved, to be honest. He didn’t want Zach to get hurt, and this was the best way for him to help without getting in the way of a fight.

The Trollhunter wandered the streets, accidentally scaring a gaggle of drunk people. To their credit, he did look pretty terrifying. A few minutes after, he heard his radio making some static, and then Zach’s voice.

“Jim! There’s a carjacking at 3rd and 24th! Over.”

He responded with a quick “Got it. Over.” and vaulted himself to the roof of a building. One of his favorite things about Jersey City was all the buildings. He was able to freely run through the city without fear of being spotted. It was kind of like the forest. His body soared through the air, the epitome of grace as he moved elegantly through the air, somersaulting midair with a dramatic flourish of one arm, and -

-his outstretched arm slammed into an air conditioning unit, sending him flailing and crashing on top of something.

~~~~~

_The car was a convertible, a beautiful red 1966 Mustang, completely refurbished. Aaron knew he needed this car the moment he saw it. Hot-wiring the car was quick, and his peel-out even quicker. Despite that, the cops caught up with him swiftly. Aaron wasn’t too worried though, this wasn’t the first car he’d stolen and he knew the streets better than anyone. What he didn’t expect, however, was a huge, vaguely human shape falling at him in… Was that armor?_

Jim winced at the loud ‘THUNK’ his armour made as he landed on his nice, fleshy landing, immediately knocking out the man driving the car. The vehicle swerved and all he could do was hold on and slam his armoured foot down on the brake and… The car screeched to a halt, skidding for a moment before coming to a dead stop right in front of a brick wall.

Once Jim had shaken off his dazed panic, he looked up to see cops getting out of their cars and approaching him, and he knew he had to run. Fear of being caught filled the Trollhunter, his feet moving before his mind was. He couldn’t get caught, he couldn’t be the one to expose all of trollkind if they caught up. All he could think about as he dashed through city streets and climbed to the rooftops to leap between them was putting as much distance between himself and the humans investigating the scene.

Jim didn’t mean to be seen by so many. At least he had his helmet on. If he hadn’t… He shuddered at the thought.

Once he was safe in the forest on the outskirts of the city, Jim pulled out his walkie talkie and caught his breath before speaking into it.

“So uh, car is un-hijacked, but I almost got caught by the cops so,” He took a moment to breathe, still recovering from his mad dash. “I gotta work on that. Anyways, the sun’s coming up, let’s call it a night. Over.”

 

“Alright, sleep well Jim! We have a lot of work to do tomorrow! Over.”

Jim took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, seeing the sun start to peak over the mountains as he returned to New Trollmarket. 

 

As he drew the familiar arc and walked the familiar excavated path, Jim buzzed with excitement despite his exhaustion. He’d stopped a carjacking! He couldn’t wait to tell Blinky!

 

“That tiny changeling took all my wares! Without even paying!” Bagdwella screeched, pointing an accusatory finger at NotEnrique as her other hand pressed to her chest in shock. 

Oh. 

The changeling in question growled. “I was gonna pay for ‘em! Jus’ didn’t have the moolah on me,” he grumbled, crossing his arms angrily. “I can pay my tab, ya stinky troll!”

Blinky stood between the two, holding one hand out to assert dominance over the others. His other set was crossed.

‘He’s busy,’ Jim thought dimly, too tired to try to interrupt. 

Blinky, picking NotEnrique up despite his cries of “Not me scruff!” huffed. “If you expect to be treated as one of us, you cannot just go around calling us ‘stinky trolls’ all day.”

After staring at the scene tiredly for a moment, Jim called out. “You need any help, Blinky?”

The fatherly troll waved a hand dismissively. “No thank you, Jim. I’ve got this quite under control. Go and sleep, gor’kuun,” Blinky smiled fondly at the trollhunter.

Jim grinned at the affectionate nickname. Blinky had been teaching him some trollish, and gor’kuun, meaning son, was one of the first words he had leant. 

The walk to his room was a bit exhausting, his body aching by how fast he was moving earlier. After a year of hardly any movement, he had gotten slightly out of shape. He fell, face first, onto his bed and passed out almost immediately.


End file.
